Jennifer Baney Art Therapy is now open for all ages in Hanover at Anje Wellness Center, 206 Stock Street.

Art therapy is a therapeutic outlet which allows clients to explore various issues through art-making processes, using a variety of mediums ranging from colored pencils and erasers, clay and collages, or paint and water colors, Baney said.

"Art therapy focuses on the use of art materials as a catalyst to process what the mind needs to process," Baney said, "It gives people the ability to address things they can't talk about or don't want to talk about."

Many clients have found art therapy to be most valuable due to the opportunity to process struggles in a different method than traditional verbal therapy, Baney said, as they can paint, draw, sculpt, or collage about a troubling issue without the pressure of finding the words to describe or explain their experience.

After graduating from Littlestown High School in 2001, Baney said, she earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in art therapy at Marywood University in Scranton. She is a registered, board-certified art therapist, and is approved as a credentialed professional through the Art Therapy Credentials Board, Baney said.

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Her expertise as an art therapist is quite diverse, Baney said, as she served four extensive internships in four very distinct areas, including: a psychiatric unit treating patients with depression and bi-polar disorders; a psychiatric unit treating mentally handicapped patients; a dementia unit; and a woman's shelter where she worked with crisis intervention, abused women and children's therapy.

Also for the past four years she worked in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, helping patients there through art therapy.

Art therapist Jennifer Baney s office includes a closet stacked with art supplies. The sessions really vary. A lot of kids come in and say, it s time to do art while others need more time, Baney said. (THE EVENING SUN CLARE BECKER)

"I have a purposefully varied background including working with clients diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders, behavioral disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, personality disorders and substance abuse disorders," Baney said, "I have also offered art therapy to those needing to process issues related to trauma experiences, cognitive impairment and life events such as grief and loss."

She is an art member of the American Art Therapy Association and Delaware Valley Art Therapy Association, Baney said, and attends numerous trainings every year to continue to expand her art therapist expertise and skill set.

"I loved art in high school and helping people," Baney said. "Art therapy is a combination of art and reaching out to help other people. It was a perfect fit for me."

Baney's therapy space looks more like a comfy and charming living room as it is housed in an elegant home on Stock Street that was converted into professional offices for the Anje Wellness Center. The homey atmosphere is extremely important, Baney said, as it puts children and adults more at ease to be in a less clinical setting.

Art therapy is effective for all ages, Baney said, and people do not need to have any art skills to benefit from it.

Many people come to art therapy without any art skills at all, Baney said, and she helps clients find which types of art therapy will be most effective, taking into consideration the individual's comfort level, experiences, interests and therapeutic concerns.

Art therapist Jennifer Baney holds a painting she did with dots, a process Baney said has been used to help with anxiety and reduce stress. (THE EVENING SUN CLARE BECKER)

"As an art therapist, my goal is to help clients address and begin to resolve the issues which have become obstacles or barriers within their life," Baney said. "We will work together, with the assistance of the art-making process, to explore their past experiences, their current struggles and their goals for the future."

Over the years as an art therapist she has offered art therapy in individual therapy and group therapy sessions as well as family therapy sessions, Baney said, and has experience in art therapy interventions and strategies to children, adolescents and adults.

She opened the new office location in May, in an effort to make it easy for clients from Hanover, Gettysburg, Littlestown, McSherrystown, New Oxford, Abbottstown and East Berlin to access art therapy services.

By offering a 'sliding scale fee system' she intends to make art therapy affordable for everyone, Baney said, and in an effort to keep costs to a minimum she does not deal with insurance companies. Instead her low rates are similar to the co-pays that each patient would be expected to pay after their insurance paid a higher amount.

"It is my effort to make my art therapy rates comparable to other therapists' fees in the area, as well as the co-pays you would be paying for an in-network provider," Baney said.